


lessons in mending

by bitterbones



Series: Reylo One-Shots/Short Pieces [4]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben lives, Canon Divergent, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, F/M, First Time, Fluff, Post TROS, Protective Rey (Star Wars), Smut, soft smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:41:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25514443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitterbones/pseuds/bitterbones
Summary: In which Ben Solo survives Exegol and returns to the Resistance with Rey. There he faces ire from those who understandably mistrust him. Rey, seeing this, takes what measures she can to help him heal.*“I’ll make them see,” she breathed, a single tear escaping to trek over her cheek. She ghosted her lips over his, breathing in the taste of him. He tasted of battle, of salt and rust and ash. “Leia wanted you to be here. She wanted you to live. No one will take that from you while I stand.”
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Reylo One-Shots/Short Pieces [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1640707
Comments: 37
Kudos: 172





	lessons in mending

**Author's Note:**

> smut fluff bc I need some softness right now.

The cockpit of the x-wing was not meant to accommodate two people, especially not those as large as Ben Solo. The giant in question was crammed into the seat behind her. Rey sat in his lap as she piloted them out of hyperspace over the verdant jungles of Ajan Kloss. They were both filthy, coated in a thin layer of ash, blood, and grime. 

Ben was resting his eyes; his body broken in a dozen horrid ways. He concealed his dirtied face in the crook of her shoulder. His broad arms wound around her waist, holding her flush to him. Rey buzzed at each point of contact, the effervescent newness of his light still jarring her. 

“I’m bringing us in,” She said as she began to bumpy descent towards the planet’s surface. 

The canvas topped tents of the encampment came into view, nearly blending with the surrounding jungle. She could make out the shapes of people below, gathered and jubilant, celebrating the final victory against The First Order. 

Rey almost didn’t want to land, it felt good to be so close to Ben. He was warm, and beneath the stench of Exegol he smelled of safety, a promise of home. Up in the sky they were safe from the inevitable questions and judgements that would be passed. She feared the ire of her compatriots, feared that they would not understand. 

They both winced as Rey brought them down for a rough landing, the x-wing skipping roughly over the terrain. Their wounds jostled and stung with each jolt. Rey grit her teeth as she felt the cut on her forehead reopen in a gentle trickle of blood. 

Finally they jerked to halt, just short of the treeline. Behind her, Ben hissed, cradling what was likely a broken arm. She could sense his trepidation, his anxiety over the crowd that formed around the craft. He feared their loathing, and he ached with guilt over each crime they knew he had committed. 

Through the transparisteel of the canopy Rey spotted Finn and Poe. Initially their expressions were elated, then their tired eyes were drawn to the dark figure draped around her body. Confusion overtook their joy, and their faces became masks of incredulous confoundment as Rey raised the canopy and began to help Ben from the cockpit. 

He was far more broken than she, body bent in a half dozen awkward directions. He was favoring his left leg, and struggled with the drop to the ground below, gasping with the force of the impact. Rey’s own wounds pulsed sympathetically, and she could taste a fraction of his pain through their bond. Though his face was an unreadable mask, she knew he was in agony. 

Limping herself, Rey found she was too weak to bear the weight of her bondmate alone. 

“Someone help us.” She asked, but the crowd around them had fallen silent and still. A hundred pairs of eyes all watched on, a hundred sets of ears could hear the desperation in her voice, but no one stepped forward. Her knees trembled from the effort of supporting Ben. “Please, he’s wounded.”

Through the circle of gawking people a singular figure broke through. Short but determined, Rose met the pair and took up a position on Ben’s left side. He hung his broken arm over her shoulder and allowed himself to slump. 

“Everyone get out of the way!” Rose commanded, her voice stern. 

Wordlessly, a passage formed in the crowd, walled by bodies. Rey was growing more anxious by the moment, the silence weighing heavily upon her. As they made their way slowly through, she could feel the heft of their stares upon her. More than one mouth was agape in disbelief. Beneath the incredulousness, Rey could sense the anger beginning to boil, so she did her best to walk more quickly.

“Where to?” Rose asked, straining under Ben’s mass. A sweat was breaking out across her forehead. 

“My tent.” Rey replied. It was as good a defensible position as any in the camp. She only hoped Poe and Finn would keep the mob at bay. The tension was growing behind them, ready to snap into violence.

They were blissfully near already, and it only took a few more moments of struggling for them to duck into the concealing canvas of the tent. It was just as Rey had left it before the final series of fateful events unfolded. Her canteen was still waiting on her writing desk. Her cot was unmade. 

The two women helped Ben to the cot where he crumpled with a groan. 

“Okay,” Rose placed her hands on her hips, her leather jacket was stained with a fresh smear of blood. “Explanation, please?” 

Rey was already on her knees next to the cot, searching Ben for open wounds. 

“Can it wait?” She pleaded, distracted by his injuries, “Could you run to the medic’s tent and grab me a med kit? He’s injured.” 

“So are you.” 

“Please, Rose.” Rey looked back to her with wide, begging eyes. 

“...Okay, fine. I’ll be right back, but then I want you to tell me what’s going on.” 

Rey nodded and began to tear Ben’s shirt away from his body. It was pasted to his skin in a putrid mix of sweat and blood, “Of course.” 

Then Rose was gone, and Rey fumbled with the pull chain on her lamp. In the shadows, the expanse of his torso had not seemed so bad, but in the light she found it was dotted with small, dripping wounds. On his side was a larger gash which thankfully seemed to have stopped bleeding on its own. 

“Ben?”

His eyes were closed, dark circles forming beneath them like bruises in his pale flesh. He hummed in acknowledgement, and found her hand with his own, gripping it tightly. 

Rey’s skin tingled with the contact, giddy with the newness of this thing between them. But she shook that blossoming joy from her head, she needed to focus. 

“Ben, can you tell me what you think is broken?” 

One of his sable eyes slipped open, “My arm, something in my left leg, maybe my collarbone.”

Rey felt a dull ache in all of those places as well, Ben’s pain bleeding through to her. She winced in sympathy and clutched his good hand more tightly. She would need to try and persuade one of the Resistance doctors to set his injuries. Beyond the safety of the thin, canvas walls she could hear disant shouting, voices rising up in a din of outrage and confusion. She wondered hopelessly if they would need to fight their way out. 

Ben seemed to sense her line of thinking, and said softly, “I deserve this, Rey. After everything.” 

Rey shook her head in fierce denial, “No, you don’t.”

He shut his eyes again and relaxed against her pillow, “Yes, I do. I see that now.” 

Tears began to prick hot and uncomfortable at the corners of her eyes. Her skin felt flush with a wash of frustration as she leaned over him, taking his face between her hands. 

“You gave  _ everything _ to save me, to save the galaxy. You have done more than atone.”

“They don’t know that, it might not be enough for them,” His gaze was caught on her lips. Rey’s own tingled with the memory of their kiss. 

“I’ll make them see,” she breathed, a single tear escaping to trek over her cheek. She ghosted her lips over his, breathing in the taste of him. He tasted of battle, of salt and rust and ash. “Leia wanted you to be here. She wanted you to live. No one will take that from you while I stand.” 

Her voice wavered with conviction and Ben shut his eyes and kissed her back. Only the third time, it was slow, tentative with their wounds and inexperience. Rey touched his jaw with her fingertips, leaning into him with careful enthusiasm. 

Then, in a rush of humid jungle air, Rose rushed back into the tent. Rey peeled herself away from Ben, sitting back on her knees just in time to feign innocence. Behind Rose, Poe and Finn lingered in the doorway, the tent flap draped over their shoulders. The Pilot glanced back and forth between Rey and Ben suspiciously. 

“What is this, Rey? What are you doing?”

Rey ignored him and extended her hands towards Rose, who tossed the med kit to her, “Thank you.” 

“Rey.”

She flipped the latches on the kit and produced a handful of bacta patches of varying sizes. All she could offer in that moment. 

“Doctor Kalonia said she would see him in the morning,” Rose said. 

Rey pursed her mouth irritably but said nothing. It didn’t surprise her that they would make him wait, but it did vex her. They were ungrateful, if they knew what he had done for them,  _ for the galaxy _ , things would be different. But how could she make them see what she saw, what she knew. 

She smoothed a patch over the gash in Ben’s side while he hissed and tensed in pain. 

“Rey!” Poe demanded, “Answer me!” 

Without looking at him she gave the best answer she could provide. In truth Rey didn’t even know exactly what had brought Ben to her in this moment, “He’s changed, Poe. Ben’s here now, and he’s with me.” 

“He’s a tyrant, Rey,” Finn interjected harshly. “He’s a war criminal. He kidnapped you, remember? He tortured Poe and flayed me. He’s a monster.” 

“He’s Leia’s son and he died for me,” she argued, trying to keep her hands steady as she patched each wound on his torso. “Palpatine was manipulating him. The galaxy needs him as much as it needs me.” 

“What do you mean ‘he died for you’?” Rose’s voice was more level, less emotional than the others. 

Smoothing on the final patch, Rey finally climbed to her feet to face them, fingers ghosting affectionately over Ben’s flesh as she rose.

“I died defeating Palpatine,” She tried to remain stoic, but her voice wavered at the memory. “Ben came to me, he gave me  _ everything _ and died instead.” 

“But he’s right here,” Finn motioned towards the cot with disdain. 

“Leia wanted her son to live on in the light,” Rey replied vaguely. “Now if you three would please excuse us, Ben needs to rest.”

Poe’s dark eyes narrowed, “You can’t be serious, Rey. You’re with him now? You’re on his side?”

“He’s on  _ our  _ side,” she retorted sharply. 

“He needs to go,” Finn edged forward but Rey slid gracefully to block his path. She squared her shoulders, fingers tingling at her side as they grazed the hilt of Luke’s saber. 

“No one touches him,” her voice was low and full of warning. “We’ll be gone as soon as he’s recovered enough, okay? Just don’t force me to action.” 

“Come on guys,” Rose urged the men to leave. 

Poe didn’t budge, staring at Rey incredulously, “You’re threatening us? Over  _ him _ ?” 

“You don’t know what you’re endangering. Ben means  _ so much _ ,” A lumped formed in her throat at the thought. Behind her she could sense Ben’s own discomfort with the situation as he watched on from the shadows with tired, black eyes. 

“Guys. Go.” Rose pressed more insistently. 

“You’ve lost it,” Finn exhaled. “I can’t believe this.” 

From the cot Ben whispered her name, the sound nearly inaudible in its feebleness, “ _ Rey _ .” 

Rey could hear the pain in his voice. It perturbed her and added an edge of curtness to her tone, “We’ll discuss this more later. Now leave.” 

“Wait just—

“Go!” Rose exclaimed and gave Finn a shove, pushing him into Poe. 

“This isn’t over, Rey.” Poe called out as Rose strongarmed him out of the tent. 

Rey kept silent. Shuffling to the tent flap to button it closed behind them, she listened for a moment for any signs of a mob. She heard nothing but Poe and Rose bickering in harsh tones, Finn uncharacteristically quiet. 

“Rey,” Ben said her name again. 

Rey turned back to him and knelt beside him, taking his good hand between her own. She took in a steadying breath, focusing her mind on what truly mattered. In time her friends would see the truth of Ben Solo, but for now, she needed to be with her bondmate. The thing between them was newly blossomed and still jarring to consider and behold, she wanted to explore it with him. Perhaps it would help. 

Narrowing her focus to only the bond, it was easy to lose track of herself, to become wholly enveloped in the space between Rey and Ben. At her probing, Ben let out a shuddering breath, recoiling slightly. Rey dropped his hand and looked to him in confusion. 

“You shouldn’t have to give up your friends for me,” even through the shadows Rey could see his shame. She could sense it, too, lingering between them. 

“I’m not giving anything up,” she explained, sliding up and onto the narrow strip of cot beside him. He tensed as the front of her body pressed flush to him. Rey was as unused to the physical proximity as he was, but it elated her. They would learn together, each the other’s first in everything. “Besides, you gave up so much more.” 

“It didn’t matter in the end,” he breathed. Thick fingers traced a careful line up her hip. He turned his head slightly, so his face was angled over hers. Sable eyes shone bright in the dim lighting. 

“You’re wrong,” Rey whispered, she traced a line along the side of his face, lingering over his cheekbone. “It meant everything.” 

Carefully, Rey craned her neck and sealed her lips to his. The kiss was gentle and slow, she wound her fingers into the silken hair at his nape, and he cupped her lower back with his good hand. 

_ Everything will be alright _ , she spoke into his mind, a new skill she had discovered in the hours since Exegol.  _ They’ll come to understand.  _

Ben shivered and hummed, deepening the kiss.

It was real, proper, liked she’d never had before. And she didn’t find it strange in the slightest that just a few days previous they had been enemies. Always they had been spiralling, falling towards this fate. Together they were balance, and their need for one another was ingrained and undeniable. 

Whimpering at the sudden heat that engulfed her, Rey dropped a hand to Ben’s shoulder and curled her fingers into his flesh. 

Gasping, Ben jerked away suddenly, in pain. 

“I’m sorry,” Rey exclaimed, dropping her hand and examining the area. It was mottled with fresh bruises, purple and blue and black. 

“I’m alright,” Ben panted, but he wouldn’t look at her. He kept his eyes locked on the canvas ceiling, averted.

Rey cocked her head curiously, noticing a flush spreading high over his pale cheeks. Alarmed, she probed gently into the bond, searching for an answer. When she found it, she flushed as well, and her wide gaze was involuntarily drawn to the bulge at the front of Ben’s trousers. 

“ _ Oh _ ,” she was unfamiliar with this, even more so than with gentle kisses and soft words. 

“I’m sorry I can’t—

“It’s alright.” Gaining confidence, Rey slid up his body, hands following the broad contours of his torso as she straddled his waist. She felt hot all over, humming with something new and fiery. 

Ben gave a long exhale when Rey kissed his chin, then his jaw, then their lips met again. Now the taste of Exegol was gone from him, replaced by something heady and mannish. It drew a moan from Rey, who experimentally slipped her tongue past Ben’s. When he moaned in turn she broke away for a breath, catching and holding his slate stare. 

Careful to maintain eye contact, Rey flattened her hands on the cot and pressed herself back and into his covered erection. Heat had pooled in her center, and she shivered at the pressure and friction. 

“Rey,” his voice came husky and low. “We don’t have to—

Rey shushed him, pressing a finger to his lips, “I want to. After everything I think this is how it’s meant to be.”

Ben lifted his head from the pillow and kissed her again. Less sloppy this time as they learned to avoid teeth and balance lips and tongue. They were learning.

As they kissed Rey rocked back against him again. His good hand raised to fist in the dirty white fabric of her robes. 

_ Ben _ . Her mind brushed against his, sharing all the sultry emotion that was brimming up inside of her. She wanted this. Him. It was right, how things were meant to be. Feelings swelled along with her lust, and she broke away, fumbling with the clasp of her trousers.

Painfully, Ben sat up and helped her. His hands, though wounded, were steadier than her own. 

“You’re sure?” He asked, gaze locked as wide swaths of her tan flesh were exposed. Long legs corded with lean muscle, and between them… 

He was thinking dirty things, things that tinted his ears red as he bashfully looked anywhere but at her. Rey laughed and shared her thoughts, too, which were on par with his own. He smiled wide and goofy and kissed her again.

Her deft fingers trailed down the musculature of his abdomen.

“I’ve never…” She traced her index finger along his waistband then down and over his clothed cock. 

“Neither have I,” Ben admitted. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers. “We don’t have to.”

Tentatively, Rey touched his cheek, then traced the pad of her finger along the curve of his nose. Even bruised and filthy he was an enchantingly beautiful man. Suddenly everything felt unreal, and Rey wondered if the day’s events had all been a beautiful dream, a pretense for a looming nightmare.

_ I promise it’s real _ . Ben reassured her, cupping her cheek and brushing her lips with his own.  _ We won. We’re alive. We’re here. _

Rey let her hand palm him through his pants while she kissed him back. She felt weak, exhausted from the final battle, but more powerfully within her burned an all consuming need to be with him in every conceivable way. Her whole life had been building to this moment. She had lived each day as an unknowing half-creature, and now she was about to be made whole. 

_ I want this. With you. _ She deepened the kiss and pushed him backwards so he lay flat on his back. His good hand cupped the back of her neck, tangling into her hair that had fallen loose. Everything was too hot, nearly unbearable. Ben was the water that could quench her thirst, the flood to her flame. 

Her fingers undid his zipper and slipped past it to the skin beneath. He was paradoxically velvet soft and steel stiff under her touch. He fit neatly into her palm and she stroked experimentally along his length. When Ben’s lips parted in an involuntary groan, Rey pulled away from him and leaned back, eyeing his cock curiously as she stroked him. 

“I’ve never seen one before,” She said as she ran her thumb over his swollen head. He grunted again and she looked back up to him. He was flush from his face to his chest, his handsome mouth parted, eyes shimmering and locked intensely onto her. His hair was fanned like a black halo around his head. 

Rey’s movements slowed, and she leaned back on her knees, stunned by the visage of him.  _ You’re so beautiful _ . 

He blinked at her like he didn’t believe her, then he answered, soothing and erotic in her mind;  _ So are you.  _

“Can I?” Rey asked, looking from his cock towards the tuft of chestnut hair that marked her center. 

“It might hurt.” Ben cautioned, and she knew if she asked he would stop in a heartbeat. 

“I don’t care.” 

Still clothed from the waist up, Rey maneuvered herself over Ben’s large body, gripping him and angling him as best she could. It was awkward as she pressed down, and she wasn’t sure if she was doing it correctly. 

_ You are _ . His eyes were shut, neck straining as she slowly sank down onto him. She was quick about it, eager to push past any pain and find the pleasure that surely awaited them. 

It stung at first, and stretched her out in a way she hadn’t known possible. Body flush to his, she leaned forward and braced a hand carefully on his chest while she grew used to the sensation. 

“How does it feel?” Her voice wavered as she shifted her hips slightly. 

Ben’s fingers curled like talons of the cot, and she realized he was exhibiting immense self control as she wriggled in his lap. 

“Good.” He grunted, shutting his eyes tight. “Warm. Wet.  _ Really  _ good.” 

Cautiously Rey shifted her hips again. Forward and then back. It didn’t hurt so much anymore, though it still felt strange. Ben huffed and opened his eyes once more, irises only thin rings around the pitch of his pupils. 

_ Careful. _ He pressed into her mind, tender as a caress. He was afraid he might hurt her. 

“It’s okay,” Rey said breathlessly, beginning to set a rhythm. She leaned forward slightly and kissed his chest. Warmth was building between her legs once more, the friction of his cock mounting deliciously. “Feels good.”

As best his battered body would allow, Ben began to cant his hips, pounding up to join in her rhythm. The sweet friction intensified, heat pooling in Rey’s lower belly. She whimpered, and met his gaze, holding it as they took each other higher and higher. His eyes were dark and smoldering, brimming with lust and want like Rey had never known. She gasped and clutched at his good arm.

_ Ben. _

Their paced increased and an erotic, wet cocophany of sound filled the tent, accented with soft, pleading moans. 

_ So good, Rey.  _

_ Ben! _

He shook her hold and grasped her hip, thrusting up, ignoring his own pain as pleasure washed over them. Rey sputtered and ducked her face into his chest, biting her lip as release overtook her body. She was tense, sparking like a live wire as she was vaguely aware of Ben finishing wetly inside her. 

She slumped onto his chest, weight bearing painfully onto some of his wounds, but neither of them cared. They panted, sweat mixing between their bodies. When Ben’s cock slipped out of her in a rush of fluids Rey sighed, nuzzling sweetly into him. It felt so good to be there, languid in the afterglow of something so powerful and new.

The bond hummed like it never had before, singing between them as they came down. 

_ I love you. _ Ben thought, recovering before Rey.  _ I’ve always loved you. _

Rey tilted her head up towards him, blinking back tears. No one had ever said those words to her before. She hadn’t thought she’d ever hear them. 

“It’s going to be hard,” her voice quavered. “But this is how things are meant to be. I’ll make them see that.” 

Ben curved his neck to press a kiss to her forehead. 

“For now let’s just stay like this.”

Rey shifted and caught his lips with hers, humming in agreement. 

They were alive. The galaxy was saved. They had each other, bound up in the Force and fate. That was all they needed. All they would ever need. 

There was balance. 

And as they kissed and caressed into the dark of night, Rey knew it was meant to be. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: [X](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/sordidbones)


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